Vatican Rome

The Vatican city is a independent state within Italy and it has got one of the most important and popular complex of monuments and museums of Rome. In fact it is constituted by S. Peterâ€™s basilica that faces S.t Peterâ€™s square built by Gianlorenzo Bernini between 1656 and 1667, the Vatican museum which display works from the Roman catholic church., and the Sistine chapel painted by Michelangelo.

Closed on Sunday.

The Saint Peterâ€™s basilica is one of the biggest monuments in the world; it is 218 metres. long and 130 m high . The basilica was built between the 1506 and the 1626 by Bramante, Raffaello Sanzio, Baldassare Peruzzi, Michelangelo, Giacomo della Porta, Carlo Maderno and Bernini.

The Basilica has 5 main doors but the most important is the “Holy Door” in bronze by Vico Consorti (1950), which is by tradition, only opened for great celebrations such as Jubilee year.

The Sistine Chapel is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official winter residence of the Pope in the Vatican City, while in Summer his Holyness moves to nearby Castelgandolfo .
The Sistine Chapel is is famous for Michelangeloâ€™s ceiling painting.

Curiosity : Buying your postcard stamps in the Vatican City is cheaper and if you post your mail within the Vatican it is also faster !

You can get there by metro Line A (stop in Ottaviano and then 10 minutes walking ).
Opening hours:
Sistine chapel entrance from 10.00 am to 12 am
Vatican Museum: visits at set hours 9.00. 10.00. 11.00. 12.00 am.